There are two times a year were I become overly sentimental... during Christmas and at the end of the school year. During Christmas it all begins with the twinkly lights, and the feeling of love and warmth that invades my heart, and my house... I just enjoy watching my girls be girls and seeing my family be a family... It´s like the world is this little perfect place, were everybody loves one another, and anything and everything revolves around family... Christmas simply makes my heart dance and sing!

During this time of the year is a different feeling, is the feeling of not wanting my girls to grow up, of wanting to keep them all three on my lap forever, of wanting life to stand still just for a little while longer. I see Ale moving on to seventh grade, she doesn´t need me to do her hair in the mornings any more, her friends tend to be a little more exciting than us, and well she is twelve, she thinks she has it all figured out by now, There is Emi, growing up and always my sweet girl.. but still I know she is growing, and then our Ari, who will attend her sisters´ ¨big girls´ school this coming year, and even though she is our baby, well... if she is going to her sisters´ school I guess she is not that little anymore. And the emotion begins...

I think I become emotional because my girls are the ones that with their curiosity and wonder make me see the world as a much better place a beautiful place full of colors and possibilities. With their love, innocence and honesty they teach me and re teach me again and again what really matters in life. And as I age, as I start to see wrinkles in my face, is the sparkle in their eyes that keep me young, is their beauty inside and out that make me beautiful, is their laughter that makes me laugh... is their hearts that make me love... it´s them, is being their mom what makes me the person I am and the person I want to be. They make me believe in unicorns, they make me want to climb on a rainbow and find the pot of gold... they just make me happy!

God is definitely amazing, he gives us the chance to relive our childhoods by giving us children, we get to do the things we loved the most again and also to do them better, and maybe we are also able to do the things we didn´t do through them... And so I sit here, and I just want to put on a flowery dress and dance to a happy tune, put a flower on my head, and lay on the grass with my girls only to see what shapes the clouds make for us today! Because really... I can´t seem to find anything more important than this!

We are in the last two week of school here and I am feeling a little overwhelmed.... or maybe very overwhelmed! The girls are tired, I am exhausted, mornings are shorter, uniforms seem to disappear every morning, there are a trillion things to do in the house, out of the house, during the week and on the weekends... so many things that I think my writing muse decided to go on a hunger strike and I haven´t seen her lately! Oh and add to that that am potty training Ari, which went so smoothly that now she won´t do number two and am having the worst time as she will not go to the bathroom, she is so strong willed that she will hold it in for days until she can no more and then it hurts so bad that the cycle starts again... it´s pretty scary for me, and I get really nervous, but hopefully this too will pass soon, I hope!

It´s a good thing that somehow, in the middle of the chaos God always finds his way of saying ¨stop.. breath... go on!!!¨

We are officially done with any type of competition and called it a wrap this weekend with Emi´s Flamenco show which was amazing!!! She danced beautifully, she danced with her soul and her imagination.... and oh my just looking at her eyes sparkle was a show in its own! It was a good thing that this time I decided to leave the camera behind and trust the academy´s photographer... I enjoyed the show, was able to concentrate on every move Emi made, and once I got home I took pictures more relaxed!

Here are some of the moments that in between all the rush in our lives, I was able to stop, breath, look... open my eyes and take in all the gloriousness of the ordinary in our lives. Because waking up with a baby in my bed is magic, is love... is life...

And seeing my Dad celebrate his day with all his grandchildren, even though there was one that didn´t want to smile, is a blessing!!!

Seeing my oldest lead the way for her baby sister makes my heart rejoice!

And giving the girls one extra lap around our block once we get home just to hear their laugh is priceless and worth all the traffic I had just endured minutes before!

And then again... God´s present at the end of the day... magnificent!

Have a great rest of the week... and stop and look around! Don´t forget to share what you are up to at your corner of the world, and make some new friends.. life is better when shared!

Hi! my name is Carolina Perisse de Rico, I am a stay at home architect with the biggest project ever... my girls! The oldest is 13, then I have an 11 year old, and now I am starting again with our three year old happiest toddler ever. Glad you are here, hope you stay a while!